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Al Nahda takes lead in landmark Tunisia elections

Al Nahda, the moderate Islamist party that had been banned in Tunisia until eight months ago, is reportedly emerging as the leading political force in the country amid initial claims that it outperformed its competitors in the elections.

Claims about Al Nahda’s performance were based on unofficial reports and alleged leaks from voting locales where the ballots were being counted one day after Tunisians cast votes to choose a national constituent assembly. The leader of the secular centre-left PDP party, tipped as Al Nahda’s main challengers before the vote, conceded defeat.

“The trend is clear. The PDP is badly placed. It is the decision of the Tunisian people. I bow before their choice,” leader Maya Jribi told AFP at her party’s headquarters. Official results will be announced today afternoon, Kamal Jendoubi, the head of the Independent Higher Commission for the Elections said.

However, Tunisians said that regardless of who wins the elections, the elected deputies will have to rise to the new responsibility.

“Be it Al Nahda or any other political party, its deputies should appreciate that getting elected by the nation in such special conditions means possessing the aptitude to assume fully and with true competence the heavy tasks,” Manoubi Marrouki, an analyst, said.